1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for controlling the tension and travel of a saxophone player's fingers.
2. Other Related Applications
The present application is based on the provisional U.S. patent application No. 61/216,153, filed on May 15, 2009, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
3. Description of the Related Art
Many musical instruments require the use of keys that are actuated by a user's fingers. Not infrequently playing these instruments requires the flexing and extending of fingers in a manner that can derive trauma, including tendonitis. This is particularly true with saxophones where a user's fingers have to selectively apply forces of a predetermined magnitude to actuate the keys. In doing this, a user's extension of his or her fingers (typically the index, middle, and ring fingers) travel (lifting) beyond the plane of the surface of the actuating keys. Extending a finger a beyond a certain distance is not necessary to actuate the keys and in fact results in wasted travel time, fatigue, and, more importantly, trauma.
Nonetheless, this excessive travel of the fingers is recurrent with novices and some experienced saxophone players, like the applicant herein, wherein the excessive travel of the fingers is unconscious and habit forming. The present invention resolves this problem by limiting the travel of the player's fingers to a distance corresponding with proper technique.